Retrieving the Joy
Various Scriptures
October 4, 2003
Introduction
Everyone gets down sometimes. Everyone gets dry, spiritually sometimes. Everyone, at one time or another just seems to lose the joy and wonderment they once had in their relationship with God.
I am with you on that. I have had times when I wondered if it was even worth being a Christian sometimes.
So I know how you feel. But also need to tell you that it doesn’t have to stay that way. So if you’re going through one of those times right now, take heart! I’m going to give you some very specific ideas on how to get out of that and retrieve the joy.
If you’re not going through this right now, praise God! But it will happen.
What I want to emphasize tonight is that it does not have to be permanent or debilitating.
Why am I talking about this tonight? Because I just recently came through one of these seasons in my own life.
And I want to come to you as a fellow pilgrim here. And what I want to share with you tonight is how I get out of those times.
Before we go much further, let me tell you that I am NOT talking about happiness. Happiness depends on circumstances and outside forces.
This isn’t a message on how to be “happy.” This message deals with how to get out of those times when you just don’t care about anything, and nothing seems to bring you joy.
I mentioned in a previous message that joy is much deeper than happiness, and is even possible in the midst of great pain, because it has God as both its source and its object.
Disclaimer: I am going to give you five tips to coming out of a blue season. And while these are all actions that you can take, please understand that the outcomes of these actions are the result not of our actions, but rather the working of the Holy Spirit.
We do these actions in faith, believing that God wants us to enjoy life in Him. He sent Jesus so we could have life and have it to the full.
None of what I’m sharing with you tonight is a magic formula or anything like that. It’s all stuff that I have learned over the course of 20+ years of being a believer.
So let’s look at how go get out of the funk, and retrieve the joy, okay?
The first tip I want to give you in getting out of the funk and retrieving the joy is to…
1. Remind yourself you are forgiven.
One of the dangers about holiness churches that stress personal holiness, is that many times we end up living lives of guilt, rather than lives lived in the joy of forgiveness.
We are so afraid of stepping over the line to sin, that we’re forgetting that we can live lives characterized not by fear of failure, but rather by a joyous, victorious life.
If you have been struggling with sin lately, this is something you need to get a hold of, because not only does it help with guilt, it can also help us to break the cycle of sinning, then feeling so guilty that we figure we might as well just keep on.
Lamentations says that God’s mercies are new every year, right? NO – every day.
Isaac Smith, our District Superintendent shared that one of the first things hi does when the alarm goes off in the morning is to pray – “Thank You Lord, that I’m forgiven.”
1 John 1:9 says this:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
A sin confessed is a sin forgiven. We may not feel like it, but it’s the fact, according to God’s Word.
I heard a pastor say recently that just as sin is real, so is forgiveness. So I say to you, remind yourself you’re forgiven, and you’ll find yourself living a life with more victory.
The Bible says that God throws our sins into the sea of forgetfulness. He chooses to not remember our sins. He throws our sins as far away from us as the East is from the West.
And not only forgives, He purifies. With His purity, not our own.
And you know, let me give you something else to chew on here. We don’t gain the victory – the victory has already been won. Jesus’ triumph at Calvary was your victory and mine.
Live like a victor, and quit surrendering to the beaten enemy. Live life with your head up. You don’t have to continue the cycle. With the power of the Holy Spirit living in you, you can say no to sin. It’ll help you retrieve the joy.
The next tip for retrieving your joy is to…
2. Remind yourself that we reign in life through Christ.
Romans 5:17 –
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
I just mentioned that we have victory in Christ. So live like it’s true, not just something you hear in church at retreats.
This goes to an attitude that the Body of Christ is sorely missing right now.
We look around at the world, and especially the U.S., and we just see it all going to hell in a hand basket. Sin is rampant, Christianity seems to be shoved more and more to the side in our culture, families are falling apart, and you name it.
And what do a lot of Christians do? We moan and groan like we have no hope.
I tell you there is hope! And if I didn’t think so, I’d tell you, and I’d join you with the long faces.
God’s still on the throne!
Sure, there are some things that are horrible in our culture and our world. But guess what? We still get to worship God, follow Christ, read the Bible, worship in public, and all sorts of stuff. We can reign in life in this culture.
Maybe you’re going through some personal issues right now. Maybe you’re struggling with a particular sin. Or maybe you just can’t seem to get a handle on your finances, no matter how you try. Maybe you have relationship problems.
I don’t discount or minimize those things. Been there, done that. So I know how you feel.
But I remember that no matter what happens to me here, a time is coming when this will be nothing but a memory. And in the meantime, I go through life knowing that Psalm 139 says that God knows where I am and what I’m going through, and that He cares for me more than I can imagine.
Do yourself a favor and memorize Romans 5:17. Don’t promise to do it later. Do it tonight before you go to bed. And go to bed tonight thinking of the fact that God created you to reign in life through Jesus.
The third tip in getting out of the funk and retrieving the joy is to…
3. Remind yourself to get back in the Word, even if it’s just a little bit.
I have found during dry times in my life, it’s almost always linked to the fact that I have not been spending time in the Bible and prayer.
Let me say something here that’s very important. If you are not currently spending regular time in the Bible, then you are going to have to make time for it.
Not FIND time. MAKE time. We will always make time for the things that are most important to us.
Psalm 119:103 says:
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Ask God to give you a hunger and thirst for His Word that would cause you to MAKE time for it.
In the meantime, just start by reading a few verses from the Psalms, Proverbs, or the Gospels. Let God remind you of the wonderful things God has for you in His Word.
I guarantee that you’ll benefit.
The fourth tip for retrieving the joy is to…
4. Remind yourself to find joy in the little things.
This is something relatively new for me. But I have five kiddos, and you know what? They bring me a lot of joy, and I sometimes find it in the weirdest places.
For instance, I find joy in the fact that my daughters smile when they see me, especially after work, or first thing in the morning. And I also find it incredible that after almost 16 years of being married to me that my wife still smiles when I come home, and it’s not just because I make the food money.
I find joy in things like the leaves changing. I think part of that is that I have some of my greatest memories of life during the fall. So when I see small signs of fall coming, I love it. Not too keen on winter, mind you, but I like the fall.
My boys play soccer. My youngest son’s team was filled with 7 and 8 year olds. And if you can’t have fun watching a bunch of little kids running after a ball on a field, you need to ask God for help there.
Or watching a baseball game filled with little kids who have no idea which base to go to, or where to throw the ball.
I see some parents who are more concerned with making sure their kid is the All-Star starting pitcher, than with helping their kid enjoy the game and learn.
Being a good fan at a ball game helps me, because God allows me to actually enjoy watching, instead of focusing on the mistakes of my child or the coach.
That’s a pet peeve of mine, by the way. Christians should be the best examples of sportsmanship out there. It’s an indication of the joy that’s in your heart.
Remind yourself to find joy in the little things.
Ask God to give you a “bearing” of joy. Is your natural facial expression one of joy or contentment, or is it a sourpuss?
There was once a young boy who went to spend the week with his grandfather on the farm. While walking around he noticed the chickens, they were scratching and playing around. The little lad said, “They ain’t got it”. Next he saw a colt in the field playing and kicking up its heel’s to which he replied, “He ain’t got it”. After examining all of the animals on his grandfather’s farm and see that none of them had “it”, this boy finally found the old donkey in the barn. When he saw the donkey’s long, frowning face and the way that the donkey just stood there he screamed for his grandfather to come quick. “I found it, I found it” the boy kept yelling. When his grandfather asked what he had found he said, “Pawpaw, I found an animal that has the same kind of religion that you have.” Chris Layton, SermonCentral.com
John Wesley said that sour-faced religion is from the devil.
There was a time in my life, that I was grateful for hot water in the shower. And I was joyous when I got hot water instead of lukewarm. I learned to find joy in the little things.
The fifth tip for retrieving the joy is to…
5. Remind yourself that you are needed in the kingdom.
In other words, get involved in some sort of ministry.
It’s amazing what getting involved in the lives of others can do for your own attitude.
I think one of the reasons for that is that we get reminded that the world does not revolve around us. But also, it’s a reminder that the focus of Scripture is not ourselves, but others.
Philippians tells us that we should consider others better than ourselves (Phil. 2:3-4).
I think part of that is seeing that when we positively influence someone else, we gain the side benefit of joy in our own lives.
I can tell you from personal experience that it’s true.
The last tip I want to share with about how to retrieve the joy is to…
6. Remind yourself that joy is rooted in the hope we have in Christ.
This is very key. We have to understand that joy is not rooted in circumstance, or relationships, or good business, a good job, or any of that.
The joy we have is rooted in HOPE. Hope that Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, was not in vain, and that it means something for us not just when we die, but while we live.
Listen to Romans 5:1-5.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
We have hope for heaven, and hope for today, because of Christ.
So if you you’re going through the mill right now, or you’re not finding joy, then I need to ask you if maybe the problem is where you’ve put your hope.
If I put my hope in money, I’ll be disappointed, either in this life, or in the next. The same with my job. I love my work, but you know what? It may be gone tomorrow.
So my joy has to be placed somewhere where it won’t be dependent on circumstances or other people.
Bottom line: we retrieve the joy by holding on to its source – Christ.
This is why I said that joy can be present even in the midst of great pain.
The source of joy, and the object of joy is not circumstances or other people. The source and object of joy is Jesus Christ.
So if you’re not experiencing the full and abundant life Jesus died to give you, look to Him and ask for it.
He’s waiting to give it to you. God does not enjoy seeing His children suffer. Allow God to work in you as you work to keep in mind the things we have discussed this morning.
Let’s pray.
